Gone With The Bustling World Chapter 1: Chapter One
"Duke! Slow down!!" "Wait for us please!!" "It's dangerous!"
In the alerting shouts, a black steed galloped by, leaving behind the several exhausted family servants in the clouds of dust.
The youth on horseback wore a red scarf around his neck, eyes movingly sharply like swords, proud like a torch of flame. The elegant and n.o.ble manners still carried innocence and carefreeness from childhood. "Humph! My ancestors were expert riders and archers who conquered the world on horseback. How could the skills be ruined in my hand?!"
A faint shadow loomed in the woods! "A deer!" The sharp-eyed and swift young man quickly spurred the horse to turn around and chased at full speed after the prey! The deer also galloped desperately away—
"Duke! —" The young man turned a deaf ear to the calling and stubbornly chased into the depth of the woods.
The forest trails visibly turned more rugged, and the steed also found it hard to walk through the dense bush. "d.a.m.n it!" The young duke decided to jump off the horse and walk on feet. The steed was so clever that it followed closely after the youth step by step.
"Hum, get you…" The youth fixed his eyes on the deer bounding not afar, raised his bow and drew an arrow. Every of his movements shouted out a pressure of his strong will to get the prey.
Momentarily, a faint winding sound of vertical flute rang. The youth shivered a little, and his arrow almost shot out accidentally! When he realized what was going on, the prey had disappeared into thin air…
The young man raised his blade-shaped eyebrows, surprised. Unlike ordinary n.o.bilities who were brought up within their huge mansion, he had a wild nature since he was little and enjoyed hanging around outdoors, so naturally he was much more knowledgeable and experienced. However, he had never heard such talented and beautiful playing of vertical flute, which he believed was no lesser than a divine tune! He thought naughtily: the musicians of his mansion would all kill themselves out of shame after hearing this.
Thinking of this, he subconsciously slowed down and paced into the depth of the forest along the tune…
If, back then, he hadn't tried to explore out of curiosity…
If, back then, he hadn't been caught up with the picturesque scene…
If the two had never known each other…
If time could flow backward…
Would they still choose to walk into this deadlock? …
Flowers flew in the midair in a blossom shower. The pink petals fell voluminously on the hair and clothes of the young man in white under the peach tree. A scene of loneliness and melancholy. He sat tranquilly in a luxurious wheelchair, head slightly down, eyes half closed. The most prominent was the shadow of his long eyelashes leaving on his icy-white face and the n.o.ble cinnabar between his brows.
Fang Junqian held his breath, as if a secular folk accidentally breaking into a fairyland. He subconsciously stepped aside and suddenly felt something under his feet. With a light 'crack', a crisp withered branch broke into two pieces!
"Who is that?" The youth in white was alerted at once without turning his head. He waved the gold thread in his right hand, and it immediately rushed at the uninvited visitor like a viper!
Fang Junqian hurriedly blocked it with his sword! Then he leaned back to avoid the second fatal attack of the gold thread! When he stood steady again, his face had turned pale and hands soaked in cold sweats.
"Come out!" The youth in white seemed unable to walk, but, eyes looking down, he lifted both arms! With a loud crashing, the bamboos before Fang Junqian fell down successively. The fracture surface of the bamboos should be cut neat and flat by the gold thread!
He looked up, and he stared at him, his white clothes spotless as snow while his red scarf arrogant like flame. From this moment, the two were tied up to compose a destined life-long sorrowful story…
The youth in white had a voice as calm as lake, yet the gentleness was mixed with a touch of pride and desolation, "Who are you?"
Fang Junqian lifted his eyebrows, "Who are you?"
The young man pulled slightly the corner of his lips and looked unwilling to talk.
Fang Junqian felt sorry to have unintentionally offended him, and seeing him inconvenient to move, he felt more apologetic, "I'm Fang Junqian."
"I see. You're Young Duke Fang."
Everybody knew that the current emperor had a half-blood brother who had contributed a lot in a.s.sisting the emperor to seize the throne. After the emperor took the throne, he ent.i.tled this brother as Prince Dingguo (Lit. A prince who brings peace to the country) who had a single son given birth by his wife. Ent.i.tled as duke at the age of sixteen, this single son was young duke Fang!
The youth in white bowed a little, yet he didn't look much respectful.
"And you're…?"
"Just a vulgar folk who dare not to tell you my humble name," he answered in a courteous yet estranging manner.
"Don't say that. The dukedom was granted to me only because the emperor is too kind and benevolent…" He couldn't continue because the young man smiled.
It was a small sneer, carrying a touch of contempt and smirk. His cold-eyed gaze made him diffident to go on.
Fang Junqian frowned, "Am I wrong?"
"No." The youth still wore a light smile, "as far as I remembered—when the five princes vied for the throne, our 'kind and benevolent' emperor killed without mercy his father and brothers. Except for your father, all the other four princes were either beheaded in public or torn by five horses. None of them died with an intact corpse. If your father didn't boast military power and unparalleled prestige, I wonder what the emperor would do to your family…haha, what a 'kind and benevolent' emperor…"
"How dare you!" Fang Junqian flew into a fury, "How dare you to talk nonsense about the imperial authority!"
The youth in white stopped talking, but the sneer in the corners of his lips became more apparent.
The wind shook off cl.u.s.ters of bright red and pink petals…among the shower of flowers, the two talented handsome youths stared at each other!
A childish voice interrupted them—
"Childe, you're here! The wind gets stronger; I'm taking you back…My Childe, this is…?" The footboy with an adorable pink-skinned face gazed at Fang Junqian in surprise. The round bright eyes shouted—where did you pop out?!
"A person I just met. Jinya, take me back." The footboy answered at once, "Yes! My Childe."
"Xiao Qingyu. Finally, I find you!" A cheerful pretty young girl rushed out of the forest, gasping, to the youth in white, stamping her little feet to express her dissatisfaction, "How could you leave me alone!"
"Xiao Qingyu…Xiao Qingyu…" Fang Junqian recited the name which would wind up with him for a lifetime. Suddenly, with a snort, he mounted the horse, "Xiao Qingyu, I'll remember you!!"
At the age of seventeen, the two encountered for the first time under peach trees.
If this encounter was destined to be a tragedy,
Then, the sorrowful end had been composed already in the previous life.
The love became memory to be cherished,
But you—you're the only invariable destination of my life…
Two peerless young men, one riding, the other sitting, one dynamic and the other static, in the shower of peach blossoms, were as beautiful as a painting that used up the colors of the whole world.